Why hospitalize stroke patients in a specialized unit

A public health challenge: Cerebral vascular events are the third most frequent cause of death in the adult population and the number one cause of disabilities, a public health challenge both in terms of health care service and health care expenditures. Specialized units: Structured health care facilities, particulary specialized hospital units, can lower mortality, limit residual disability and reduce the need for long-term institutionalization. Outlook: Specialized research and teaching units are paradigmatic of the impact of health care organization. The limited number of such specialized units in France raises important ethical considerations about effective access to heath care. Functioning units could be a use- ful criteria for auditing quality of hospital facilities.